Horseshoe



G. L. BELL April 5, 1949.

HORSESHOE Filed Oct. 17 1945 glnfientar GoEDo/v Z. BELL.

Patented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention refers to horse shoes and more particularly those intendedv for race horses.

Many forms of horse shoes have been heretofore developed for use of horses performing different types of work or to suit various conditions. Some shoes have a number of spaced sharpened lugs of apexed form on their sole face for facilitating the travel of the horses using them, on slippery surfaces, others have their lugs angularly disposed with a perpendicular face directed towards the front or are of the horse-shoe. In another form the lugs take the form of a continuous series of serrations somewhat like the profile of gear teeth flattened out into an arcuate rack, all these types have the disadvantages of being relatively heavy, of not affording a maximum grip on the turf as the horses race with them and have a tendency to cut their legs, when the shoes inadvertently contact same in racing.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved racing horse-shoe that will avoid one or more of the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved racing horse-shoe that will facilitate the fast starting of the horse in a race; will avoid a tendency to induce striking against the legs during racing and will have a relatively light but effective structure for the work involved.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved racing horse-shoe that will grip the ground firmly and prevent slipping while the race horse is running.

For a better understanding of the invention and for further objects reference is had to the appended drawings and following description showing an example, while the cope of the invention is particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan View of a race horse-shoe embodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of Figure 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the particular structure shown, a horse shoe I is of conventional race horse shoe contour except that its rear toes II are rounded at their end edge rather than cut off square and sharp, and are brought arcuately inward. They are so rounded to avoid injuring the adjacent legs of the horse while running, even though they did happen to come into contact therewith. The hoof contacting surface I2 is fiat as in usual types. The turf-contacting face of the shoe ha a plurality of symmetrical lugs I3 having their rear faces I4 perpendicularly positioned with each pair parallel to each other transversely across the shoes as indicated in the drawing. The front surfaces l5 of those lugs bevel or taper arcuately towards the front with a slight tilt towards the central axis of the shoe. In one example they are spaced in the following ratios approximately. The face I4 of the first lug from the rear is the length of the shoe form from front to back. The face I4 of the second lug is about of the length from the face I4 of the first lug, while the faces I6 of the front member piece I1 are about $1 behind the face I4 of the second lug. The faces I6 are radially disposed with a center in the area encompassed by the shoe. The piece I! has a high ridge I8 in front, higher than the height of the lug face walls I4 and toes II, and apexed at its periphery abruptly as shown, with the remaining surface I9 to the inner edge gradually bevelled. Suitably located holes 20 are provided in the shoe for nailing purposes.

The shoe is mounted on the hoof of a horse in the usual manner. In running, the hoof of the horse contacts the turf and presses into it. The faces I4 of the lugs are at right angles to the direction of pressure in the direction in which the foot is to travel. This provides the most effective reaction to propel the horse forward. As the foot of the horse is lifted it carries some of the dirt close to the face I4, but this by reason of its slipping on the arcuate and slanting front face [-5 of the lugs, is quickly removed towards the inside area encompassed by the shoe, and leaves it. The front member piece I'I, being at the front of the hoof and longer, digs into the turf deeper and keeps its purchase working for a longer period than that of the lugs. It also discards the soil raised by it very effectively towards the area mentioned. It affords the fulcrum on which the shoe operates and guides the lugs into their respective places in the turf in proper relation as the hoof passes through its arc of travel during its contact with the ground in running. The form is quite critical as to the placement of its lugs, their positioning is based on the general considerations of weight and speed encountered during the racing of the horse.

While but one general form of the invention is shown in the drawings described in the specification, it is not desired to limit this application to this particular form or in any other way otherwise than limited by the scope thereof, as it is appreci- 3 ated that other forms could be made that would use the same principles and come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

A horse shoe for race horse use, comprising, a horse shoe structure of conventional contour with legs bent arcuately towards each other but spaced apart at their ends but encompassing a central area within the shoe legs including a pair of rear toes at the ends of the structure having a semi-circular disc form with the rounded edge outwards and at right angle to the exterior face of the structure, said semi-disc form being positioned in line with the edges of said ends at angle pointed towards the central open portion of the structure, but not beyond the conventional edges of the legs, so as to avoid striking contact with the adjacent legs of a horse using the horse shoe, a pair of lugs on the ground face of each leg of the shoe spaced away from each other and said toes, and a peripheral high ridge at the front of the shoe structure having a bevelled contour leading a rounded portion and flattened towards 4 the inner edge of the legs, said ridge being about one fifth of the peripheral length of the structure, said lugs being perpendicular on faces directed towards the rear of the structure, flat for a relatively short face surface and then bevelled down towards the front of the structure to the normal thickness thereof, said structure having holes for the fastening nails used with conventional horse shoes between each of said lugs, ridge and toes.

GORDON L. BELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,130,834 Nolan Mar. 9, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 Number Country Date I 367,635 Great Britain Feb. 25, 1932 801,907 France May 30, 1936 

